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UNSPLASH

Brands should start creating a first-party data strategy to work with customers, said computer software company Adobe, in response to Google Chrome’s move to phase out third-party cookies (files created by third parties that are used by websites to remember user actions) by 2023. 

Third-party cookies, which power $100 billion in digital advertising, are used for targeted marketing, with 60% of all user experience personalization dependent on them, Adobe shared in a recent webinar. 

“If we have 12–18 months [left], how many organizations will make this deadline?” asked Gabbi Stubbs, Adobe’s senior product marketing manager for Asia Pacific.  

She recommended that brands take immediate steps to ensure a first-party data mindset and a smooth transition to a cookie-less digital world by  

  • assessing where the brand is in terms of data management,  
  • streamlining domains into a single one, 
  • consolidating siloed pieces of data, 
  • capturing durable identifiers such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers,  
  • using publisher and contextual targeting to create new audiences, 
  • and following privacy regulations.  

“Streamlining disconnected domains makes personalization easier,” she added, “and keeping data in one place helps offer the best user experience.”   

Privacy is the motivating force for killing third-party cookies. In a Jan. 2020 post titled “Building a more private web,” Google announced its plan to downgrade third-party cookies from its Chrome browser.   

“Users are demanding greater privacy — including transparency, choice, and control over how their data is used — and it’s clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands,” the post said.  

Other browsers such as Firefox and Safari have already phased out third-party cookies.  

MARKETING 101 

The future is in first-party data (or data created and stored by websites that are visited directly by users), Adobe said. 

It all boils down to a thoughtful exchange of value between brands and customers, Ms. Stubbs said at the webinar. “In a future in which customer data will be a growing source of competitive advantage, gaining consumers’ confidence and trust will be key.”  

Brands can leverage first-party data by rewarding e-mail opt-ins with subscriber-only incentives, (such as L’occitane en Provence’s product discounts), exclusive content (such as The New York Times’ newsletters), and personalized recommendations (such as TEDx’s TED Recommends).  

“I think the issue people have is us sharing data to people they never consented to,” said Harold Janson, chief personalization officer of Helium, an Australia-based consultancy that helps businesses integrate data and experience for optimized marketing. “There’s a tension between personalization and privacy.” 

Businesses can get personalization right by going back to Marketing 101 and defining what the market needs, said Mr. Janson. He also advised getting better at mapping customer data and moving these pieces of data into experiences.  

“It goes back to value proposition and delivering that value,” he said. “We need to nurture customers better and lean on first-party systems like customer data platforms.” — Patricia B. Mirasol 

Taliban capture Afghanistan’s Kandahar, other cities; embassies get staff out

Airman 1st Class Alec Blackmon provides security overwatch as the sun goes down July 16, 2013, at Camp Oqab in Afghanistan. -- US Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Ben Bloker/Flickr

KABUL — The Taliban have captured Afghanistan’s second biggest city of Kandahar, officials said on Friday, fueling fears the US-backed government could fall to the insurgents as international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.  

The Taliban also captured the towns of Lashkar Gah in the south and Qala-e-Naw in the northwest, security officers said.  

The Taliban claimed to have captured the third-largest city of Herat in the west after days of clashes there but Reuters was unable to confirm that.  

Kandahar is the heartland of the Taliban, ethnic Pashtun fighters who emerged in the province in 1994 amid the chaos of civil war to sweep through most of the rest of the country over the next two years.  

“Following heavy clashes late last night the Taliban took control of Kandahar city,” a government official told Reuters.  

Government forces were still in control of Kandahar’s airport, which was the US military’s second biggest base in Afghanistan during their 20-year mission.  

Lashkar Gah is the capital of the southern opium-growing province of Helmand, where British, US and other foreign forces battled the insurgents for years.  

A police officer said officials and commanders had flown by helicopter out of the last government stronghold there at around midnight on Thursday and some 200 soldiers had surrendered to the Taliban after tribal elders intervened.  

The fall of major cities was a sign that Afghans welcomed the Taliban, a spokesperson for the group said, according to Al Jazeera TV.  

The speed of the offensive has sparked recriminations among many Afghans over President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s decision to withdraw US troops, 20 years after they ousted the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.  

Mr. Biden said this week he did not regret his decision, noting Washington has spent more than $1 trillion in America’s longest war and lost thousands of troops.  

US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the exit strategy was sending the United States “hurtling toward an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975,” urging Mr. Biden to commit to providing more support to Afghan forces.  

“Without it, al Qaeda and the Taliban may celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by burning down our Embassy in Kabul.”  

The US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday and told him the United States “remains invested in the security and stability of Afghanistan.” They also said the United States was committed to supporting a political solution.  

GETTING OUT  

In response to the Taliban advances, the Pentagon said it would send about 3,000 extra troops within 48 hours to help evacuate US embassy staff.  

Britain said it would deploy about 600 troops to help its citizens leave while other embassies and aid groups said they too were getting their people out.  

The Taliban had until recent days focused their offensive on the north, a region they never fully controlled during their rule and the heartland of Northern Alliance forces who marched into Kabul with US support in 2001.  

On Thursday, the Taliban also seized the historic central city of Ghazni, 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Kabul.  

Security sources said Firuz Koh, capital of Ghor province, was handed over to the Taliban on Thursday night without a fight.  

The government still holds the main city in the north — Mazar-i-Sharif — and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, as well as Kabul.  

On Wednesday, a US defense official cited US intelligence as saying the Taliban could isolate Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it within 90.  

‘GREAT URGENCY’  

The United Nations has warned that a Taliban offensive reaching the capital would have a “catastrophic impact on civilians” but there is little hope for negotiations to end the fighting with the Taliban apparently set on a military victory. 

In the deal struck with former US President Donald J. Trump’s administration last year, the insurgents agreed not to attack US-led foreign forces as they withdrew.  

They also made a commitment to discuss peace but intermittent meetings with government representatives have proved fruitless. International envoys to Afghan negotiations in Qatar called for an accelerated peace process as a “matter of great urgency” and for a halt to attacks on cities.  

A Taliban spokesman told Al Jazeera: “We will not close the door to the political track.”  

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said this week the Taliban had refused to negotiate unless Ghani resigned from the presidency. Many people on both sides would view that as tantamount to the government’s surrender, leaving little to discuss but terms.  

Pakistan officially denies backing the Taliban but it has been an open secret that Taliban leaders live in Pakistan and recruit fighters from a network of religious schools in Pakistan.  

Pakistan’s military has long seen the Taliban as the best option to block the influence of arch rival India in Afghanistan and to neutralise Pashtun nationalism on both sides of a border that Afghanistan has never recognised.  

Afghans, including many who have come of age enjoying freedoms since the Taliban were ousted, have vented their anger on social media, tagging posts #sanctionpakistan, but there has been little criticism from Western capitals of Pakistan’s role. — Reuters 

Ayala Group looks back at its almost two centuries of nation-building and serving Filipinos

Last July, the country’s oldest conglomerate launched #BrigadangAyala to address the needs of the diversified communities they serve.

According to the group, #BrigadangAyala is Ayala Group’s united response and action to serving people and communities nationwide. It is Ayala Group’s integrated response to its almost two-century-old commitment to national development by doing various social development and corporate social responsibility initiatives—ranging from disaster relief and response, assistance for public education, championing of social enterprises, and public health advocacy, among others. #AyalaForPH

‘Ticket to work’: Indian state brings vaccines to migrant workers’ doorstep

Sumita Roy Dutta/CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons

MUMBAI — As the health worker swabbed the skin on his arm with an alcohol wipe and prepared the syringe, Kartik Biswas felt an overwhelming sense of relief.  

He was finally about to receive his first dose of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, as part of a drive by the southern Indian state of Kerala to inoculate some of the country’s most marginalized people — migrant workers.  

It is rare for migrant workers, who make up one-fifth of India’s 100 million workforce, to be specifically targeted for state help.  

Yet in recent weeks, officials in the southern coastal state have been taking jabs to work sites, setting up vaccination camps and putting up public health posters in local languages, urging migrant workers to get protected against the virus.  

“I was home for a year during the lockdown and I got my job back with great difficulty. If my health suffers now, who will take care of my family? I was determined to get vaccinated,” said Mr. Biswas, 44, a supervisor at a construction site.  

Repeated lockdowns shuttered industries, leading to millions of job losses, while a brutal second wave in May overwhelmed the health care system in India, the second-worst affected country globally after the United States.  

Mr. Biswas, who moved to Kerala from Kolkata four years ago, was among 500 workers vaccinated at a three-day camp held at his work site last week by the labor department amid rising cases in Kerala.  

The state has given some 34,000 workers a first dose and about 1,000 a second dose, out of 300,000 on official records.  

“I feel relieved. Five of my six flatmates contracted COVID-19 at the peak of the second wave. I had started trying to get vaccinated ever since but could not,” Mr. Biswas told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.  

“Vaccination is critical for us to protect our lives and our future.”  

India aims to vaccinate all willing and eligible citizens by the end of the year, but the vaccination drive has been hit by shortages, hesitancy, and a digital divide.  

MIGRANTS RETURN TO SEEK WORK  

Migrant workers were among the worst hit by the pandemic. As many as 11.4 million returned to their home states during lockdown, government data shows, as jobs dried up.  

However, most economic activities have resumed as state governments eased restrictions with declining infections. Unemployment rates are gradually dropping, data from an independent think-tank shows.  

States like Kerala, a migrant magnet for the past decade, have seen migrants from across India returning to look for jobs in hospitality, factories and at construction sites.  

“We have a huge population of migrant workers and they should all be vaccinated. We have been getting limited doses but we are dividing what we get and holding separate vaccination camps for migrant workers,” said S. Chithra, Kerala’s labor commissioner.  

“We are trying to bring about awareness that vaccines are harmless. We have posters in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Odia languages that we are putting out on social media,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.  

About 12% of India’s 940 million adults are fully vaccinated, and more than 40% have received a first dose, federal health ministry data shows.  

Vaccination is seen as key to unlocking more jobs and easier movement between states, several of which require people to take a COVID-19 test that can cost 800 rupees ($10.78) — a couple of days’ wages for many — or proof of double vaccination to enter.  

On the other side of India, in northeastern Assam state’s Tarinipur village, Tahir Hussain Talukdar said he had looked for the vaccine in local healthcare facilities three times but had no luck.  

Mr. Talukdar, 25, who lost his housekeeping job at a multiplex in southeastern Andhra Pradesh, said he had survived on aid over the past year.  

“There is no work in my village. The labor contractor I have been calling tells me to get vaccinated before I come. I need the vaccine because that’s the only way I can get work,” Mr. Talukdar said.  

MOST VULNERABLE  

India has redoubled its efforts amid fears of a third wave.  

Several construction firms and major businesses have arranged for their staff — both on payroll and informal workers — to get vaccinated.  

State health workers are climbing hills and sailing through rivers and lakes to reach the vast country’s remotest parts. But the pace of vaccination remains slow and many are still falling through the cracks, campaigners and migration experts warn.  

Migrants often remain invisible, even though their skills are desperately needed in manufacturing, construction and the hospitality industry.  

“People seeking daily wage work are being asked if they are vaccinated,” said Benoy Peter, head of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development, which runs a mobile vaccination unit for migrants in Kerala in partnership with the state.  

Mr. Peter said Kerala’s vaccination drive must be “sensitive to the challenges of migrants” and suggested more camps on Sundays and in the evenings to reach workers likely to be overlooked, such as day laborers, scrap collectors and women.  

Most migrant workers are in the informal sector. With no steady employer, they cannot afford to take time off for the jab and are less likely to be invited to a vaccination camp, campaigners said.  

“This section is most vulnerable in the challenges they face in accessing the vaccine,” said Sanjay Awasthi, head of the International Organization for Migration’s office in India. “It is imperative their coverage is factored in.”  

Migrants in Kerala who received the shot hope to return to their pre-pandemic lives.  

Samir Kuanar, 37, who lost his plumber’s job in Kuwait when the pandemic struck last year, managed to land an interview in July with a Qatar-based agency that supplies domestic labor.  

“They gave me an offer letter but I hit a roadblock — I wasn’t vaccinated,” Mr. Kuanar said.  

As luck would have it, he received his first dose last week.  

“I hope to fly soon. Vaccination is my ticket to work,” he said. — Roli Srivastava/Thomson Reuters Foundation 

Asian Institute of Management and Manila Water to roll out AI models for better water supply management

The Asian Institute of Management (AIM), through its Analytics, Computing, and Complex Systems Laboratory (ACCeSs@AIM), has deployed and operationalized its joint project with the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and the Manila Water Co., Inc. (MWCI).

The collaborative endeavor aims to enhance the distribution of water supply in the East Zone of Metro Manila and will be utilized to forecast dam levels in Angat, La Mesa, and Ipo to cater to the needs of households, businesses, and other industries.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered software developed by ACCeSs@AIM employs historical water levels, volume of rainfall, and indicators of El Niño or La Niña to predict dam levels.

“Thanks to this collaboration with AIM and support from DoST, we can now develop and advocate for data-driven policies towards effective allocation and management of our water supply. Coupled with the continued good cooperation with key government agencies, this will help mitigate the risks associated with water supply fluctuations brought about by climate change,” said Mark Orbos, MWCI’s director for Corporate Strategy & Investor Relations.

This project was made possible with support from the DoST’s Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (CRADLE) Program, and monitoring efforts from the DoST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD).

“With much data that is already out there, it is high time that we maximize the power of emerging technologies like AI and machine learning to improve and affect the daily lives of Filipinos. AIM’s forecast modeling fulfills this by seamlessly providing apt agencies with helpful data as basis for decision and policy making on water supply to avoid shortages. Partnering with institutions like AIM and MWCI allows us to leverage on our combined resources and expertise to fulfill a common objective — to support the growth of the Philippine Innovation ecosystem,” said DoST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit.

ACCeSs@AIM actively engages the private and public sector to innovate through research and development projects in advanced analytics. It is AIM’s first corporate laboratory and the first of its kind in the Philippines.

“The impact of AI and Data Science projects like these goes beyond just solving the immediate needs of consumers,” said Prof. Christopher Monterola, PhD, project lead and ACCeSs@AIM executive managing director. “At ACCeSs@AIM, our goal is to bridge the gap between theory and practice by creating effective and practical solutions to real-world problems through data-driven support tools. We have a multidisciplinary team of experienced and highly trained data scientists with access to AIM’s world-class resources and facilities, including a 1.2 petaflop supercomputer — the fastest in the Philippines — enabling us to collaborate and operationalize solutions with different industries, government agencies and various organizations, and help innovate through R&D initiatives.”

To date, ACCeSs@AIM has completed 4 industry projects and mentored 35 MSc Data Science Capstone Projects from 25 companies and agencies.

To know more about ACCeSs@AIM, visit asite.aim.edu/access-lab/.

Cascadeo, Globe’s cloud company, named in Gartner Magic Quadrant

Cascadeo achieved an impressive milestone by landing in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud IT Transformation Services, Global 2021. Cascadeo, Globe’s Cloud Professional and Managed Services delivery arm,  joined an exclusive roster of world-class ICT leaders, reinforcing the company’s expertise in Cloud strategies, platform integrations, and Cloud customization.

Renowned research and advisory company, Gartner, recognized Cascadeo as a niche player in Public Cloud IT Transformation Services for its extensive competencies; innovative solutions to maximize Cloud platforms; consultative approach to Cloud transformation, and data analytics-based recommendations to customers. A Premier level partner of Amazon Web Services, Cascadeo is one of the very first AWS-certified Managed Service Providers globally. The company boasts of a growing number of Google Cloud Platform certifications and rapidly expanding Azure competencies. This shows Cascadeo’s commitment to improving multi-cloud and Cloud-agnostic platform capabilities.

“Public Cloud deployments are vastly accelerating, with enterprises planning to maintain or increase their IT investments in the years to come,” shared Peter Maquera, CEO of Cascadeo and Senior Vice President of Globe Business, Enterprise Group. “This historic win with Gartner reminds us that we’re on the right track towards digitally transforming our customers. Globe and Cascadeo continuously work together to expand our base of Cloud engineering skills, products, and services to help businesses achieve agility and resiliency through the Cloud.”

“As Cascadeo grows through our Globe partnership, we expand our workforce of skilled Cloud engineers, architects, security experts, and operators in the Philippines. Being part of the Magic Quadrant validates our decades of experience as a Premier-tier services provider centered around data-driven business transformation”, says Jared Reimer, President, and Founder of Cascadeo.

Gartner detailed Cascadeo’s strengths on Cloud consultancy, managed services and Cloud-native skills; modernization of traditional applications; emphasis on strategic Cloud transformation, and DevOps expertise. Cascadeo invests heavily in data analytics through its AIops-enabled cascadeo.io platform. The Cloud management platform for cloud infrastructure analytics is one of the company’s key competitive differentiators, with its capabilities in multi-cloud monitoring; automatic system alerts; cost-optimization features; and dashboard integrations.

With Cascadeo’s achievement, Globe has officially become the first Philippine telco to have a subsidiary enter into the Gartner Magic Quadrant.

Power up your business transformation with Cloud. Learn more about Cascadeo and the rest of Globe Cloud Solutions by visiting our website or getting in touch with your Globe Business Account Manager.

 

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Apple’s child protection features spark concern within its own ranks — sources

PIXABAY

SAN FRANCISCO — A backlash over Apple’s move to scan US customer phones and computers for child sex abuse images has grown to include employees speaking out internally, a notable turn in a company famed for its secretive culture, as well as provoking intensified protests from leading technology policy groups.  

Apple employees have flooded an Apple internal Slack channel with more than 800 messages on the plan announced a week ago, workers who asked not to be identified told Reuters. Many expressed worries that the feature could be exploited by repressive governments looking to find other material for censorship or arrests, according to workers who saw the days-long thread.  

Past security changes at Apple have also prompted concern among employees, but the volume and duration of the new debate is surprising, the workers said. Some posters worried that Apple is damaging its leading reputation for protecting privacy.  

Though coming mainly from employees outside of lead security and privacy roles, the pushback marks a shift for a company where a strict code of secrecy around new products colors other aspects of the corporate culture.  

Slack rolled out a few years ago and has been more widely adopted by teams at Apple during the pandemic, two employees said. As workers used the app to maintain social ties during the work-from-home era by sharing recipes and other light-hearted content, more serious discussions have also taken root.  

In the Slack thread devoted to the photo-scanning feature, some employees have pushed back against criticism, while others said Slack wasn’t the proper forum for such discussions.  

Core security employees did not appear to be major complainants in the posts, and some of them said that they thought Apple’s solution was a reasonable response to pressure to crack down on illegal material.  

Other employees said they hoped that the scanning is a step toward fully encrypting iCloud for customers who want it, which would reverse Apple’s direction on the issue a second time.  

PROTEST  

Last week’s announcement is drawing heavier criticism from past outside supporters who say Apple is rejecting a history of well-marketed privacy fights.  

They say that while the US government can’t legally scan wide swaths of household equipment for contraband or make others do so, Apple is doing it voluntarily, with potentially dire consequences.  

People familiar with the matter said a coalition of policy groups are finalizing a letter of protest to send to Apple within days demanding a suspension of the plan. Two groups, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) both released newly detailed objections to Apple’s plan in the past 24 hours.  

“What Apple is showing with their announcement last week is that there are technical weaknesses that they are willing to build in,” CDT project director Emma Llanso said in an interview. “It seems so out of step from everything that they had previously been saying and doing.”  

Apple declined to comment for this story. It has said it will refuse requests from governments to use the system to check phones for anything other than illegal child sexual abuse material.  

Outsiders and employees pointed to Apple’s stand against the FBI in 2016, when it successfully fought a court order to develop a new tool to crack into a terrorism suspect’s iPhone. Back then, the company said that such a tool would inevitably be used to break into other devices for other reasons.  

But Apple was surprised its stance then was not more popular, and the global tide since then has been toward more monitoring of private communication.  

With less publicity, Apple has made other technical decisions that help authorities, including dropping a plan to encrypt widely used iCloud backups and agreeing to store Chinese user data in that country.  

A fundamental problem with Apple’s new plan on scanning child abuse images, critics said, is that the company is making cautious policy decisions that it can be forced to change, now that the capability is there, in exactly the same way it warned would happen if it broke into the terrorism suspect’s phone.  

Apple says it will scan only in the United States and other countries to be added one by one, only when images are set to be uploaded to iCloud, and only for images that have been identified by the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children and a small number of other groups.  

But any country’s legislature or courts could demand that any one of those elements be expanded, and some of those nations, such as China, represent enormous and hard to refuse markets, critics said.  

Police and other agencies will cite recent laws requiring “technical assistance” in investigating crimes, including in the United Kingdom and Australia, to press Apple to expand this new capablity, the EFF said.  

“The infrastructure needed to roll out Apple’s proposed changes makes it harder to say that additional surveillance is not technically feasible,” wrote EFF General Counsel Kurt Opsahl.  

Lawmakers will build on it as well, said Neil Brown, a UK tech lawyer at decoded.legal: “If Apple demonstrates that, even in just one market, it can carry out on-device content filtering, I would expect regulators/lawmakers to consider it appropriate to demand its use in their own markets, and potentially for an expanded scope of things.” — Joseph Menn and Julia Love/Reuters 

Migrants’ unpaid hospital bills a barrier to birth certificates in UAE 

Norlando Pobre/CC BY 2.0/Flickr

DUBAI — Philippine national Maya and her husband lost their low-paying jobs in the United Arab Emirates early in the coronavirus pandemic, and with it their work visas and health insurance.  

Now they say they face a mounting bill of daily immigration fines because their one-year-old child remains undocumented, as the hospital where it was born withholds the birth notification required to get a certificate until the couple settles a 14,000 dirham ($3,800) bill.  

Dozens of women have told the Do Bold non-profit organization, which promotes migrant workers’ rights, that they had not obtained birth certificates in the UAE as of late 2020.  

The group said the issue came to light when it was approached by migrant workers who had lost jobs in the pandemic or could not travel home to give birth.  

Without the documentation, children in the UAE are unable to get passports, visas or Emirates identification, or to access healthcare and education.  

Do Bold said 166 women who filled out a survey did not have birth certificates at the end of last year, of which 63 cited unpaid hospital bills as the cause. Other reasons included being unable to provide valid marriage certificates or visas.  

“We want hospitals to provide birth certificates regardless of immigration status, regardless of civil status, and regardless of economic status — whether they can or cannot afford to pay a hospital bill,” said the head of Do Bold, Ekaterina Porras Sivolobova.  

The UAE health ministry, which oversees health in the federation of seven emirates, did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.  

Immediate birth registration is a fundamental human right recognised in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in a 2016 UAE law.  

Each emirate also imposes its own regulations on health and other sectors.  

Abu Dhabi was the only emirate that responded to a request for comment. Its health ministry said a 2018 regulation prohibits licensed obstetrics facilities from refusing to provide a stamped birth notification and certificate “for any reason”.  

‘NO ONE HAS MONEY’  

Maya, who declined to give her full name because of the sensitivity of her situation, said she was discharged by a government hospital in Ras Al Khaimah emirate after paying 1,800 dirhams of the 14,000-dirham bill.  

For the birth certificate, she said, it asked her to sign an agreement to pay the full amount within three months.  

She refused. “If I am not able to pay the full balance they can make a legal case against us,” said the 33-year-old, whose monthly salary working at an office had been less than 3,500 dirhams.  

Outstanding debt and bounced cheques can lead to jail, fines and travel bans in the UAE.  

Ras Al Khaimah’s media office did not respond to a request for comment.  

Maya’s was one of three families Reuters spoke to who said they could not certify births because of outstanding hospital fees.  

A private birth document services agency in the UAE said it was common for hospitals, especially private ones, not to release birth notifications — required to get a certificate — if bills were not paid.  

In June, Imram, a Sri Lankan national, got his wife discharged from a private Dubai hospital by leaving her passport there. He said he was told they would receive the birth notification once he paid the 11,600 dirham bill.  

Having lost his hospitality job and health insurance a year ago, Imram paid only a small amount. “I am trying to get money, but in this pandemic no one has money, none of my friends either,” he said.  

Dubai’s media office did not respond to a request for comment.  

Health insurance is mandatory in Dubai and Abu Dhabi but insurance quality varies and can end soon after an employment visa terminates.  

The other five emirates do not require employers to provide health insurance, according to websites of the UAE government and private insurance companies.  

The UAE last year repealed criminalization of premarital sex, but barriers remain for unmarried women in accessing health insurance for pregnancies and obtaining birth certificates, which requires a court process. — Lisa Barrington/Reuters 

Debt in a warm climate: coronavirus and carbon set scene for default 

Brody Hessin/CC BY 4.0/Wikimedia Commons

LONDON — Where coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has precipitated unprecedented debts, climate change could trigger defaults across a planet which a United Nations (UN) panel says is dangerously close to runaway warming.  

To avert disaster, countries are committing to carbon cutting steps. But these will be costly and likely to add to a global debt pile which asset manager Janus Henderson estimates ballooned to $62.5 trillion by the end of last year.  

With floods and wildfires devastating the world, estimates vary on how much damage warming will inflict on its economy.  

But a report earlier this year by Bank of America (BofA) put it at $54–69 trillion by 2100, which compares to a valuation of the entire global economy of around $80 trillion.  

The financial repercussions could manifest themselves in under a decade, a study by index provider FTSE Russell warns.  

The first climate-linked credit rating downgrades are set to hit countries soon, the report’s co-author and FTSE Russell’s senior sustainable investment manager, Julien Moussavi, added.  

In a worst-case “hot house world” scenario developing countries including Malaysia, South Africa, Mexico and even wealthier economies such as Italy may default on debt by 2050.  

In another, where governments are initially slow to react, states including Australia, Poland, Japan, and Israel will be at risk of default and ratings downgrades too, the study concluded.  

While developing countries are inherently more vulnerable to rising sea levels and drought, richer ones will not escape the climate change fallout, such studies show.  

“You can talk about climate change and its impact and it won’t be long before someone talks about Barbados, Fiji, or the Maldives,” Moritz Kraemer, chief economist at Countryrisk.io and former head of sovereign ratings at S&P Global.  

“What was a surprise to me is the impact on higher-rated, richer countries,” Mr. Kraemer added.  

Another study by a group of universities including Cambridge concluded that 63 countries — roughly half the number rated by S&P Global, Moody’s and Fitch — could see credit ratings cut by 2030 because of climate change.  

China, Chile, Malaysia, and Mexico would be the hardest hit with six notches of downgrades by the end of the century, it said, while the United States, Germany, Canada, Australia, India, and Peru could see around four.  

The corresponding increase in borrowing costs would add $137–$205 billion to countries’ combined annual debt service payments by 2100, this study estimated.  

Ratings downgrades typically raise borrowing costs, especially if they cause countries to be ejected from bond indexes tracked by funds managing trillions of dollars.  

WARNING LIGHT  

Developed countries are ramping up spending to temper climate damage, with Germany creating a 30 billion euro recovery fund after recent floods, while Singapore is budgeting the equivalent of $72 billion to protect against rising sea levels in the next century.  

For emerging economies, already scarred by COVID-19, the climate crisis will heap on more pressure.  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns that a 10 percentage-point rise in climate change vulnerability, as measured by the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative index, is associated with an increase of over 150 basis points in long-term government bond spreads for developing nations.  

The average rise across all countries was 30 bps.  

The UN environment program estimates that in developing countries, annual adaptation costs will be as much as $300 billion in 2030, rising to $500 billion in 2050.  

As a percentage of gross domestic product, sovereign debt is still about 60% in emerging economies, data from the Institute of International Finance (IIF) shows, versus 100% or so in the United States and Britain, and 200% in Japan.  

The rise from pre-pandemic levels of around 52% is a particular concern. European, US and Japanese central banks are essentially underwriting state borrowing, but this is not possible in poor countries, who must ultimately repay debt.  

“How do you enable the sort of funding that is required given the high debt levels and the importance of the ratings frameworks?” Sonja Gibbs, director for global capital markets at the IIF said. — Dhara Ranasinghe and Karin Strohecker/Reuters

Diokno warns lockdown poses risk to recovery: BSP keeps key rate at a record low

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Luz Wendy T. Noble, Reporter

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) left its key policy rate at a record low for a sixth consecutive meeting on Thursday, even as BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno warned the renewed lockdown poses a risk to economic recovery.

The overnight reverse repurchase facility was left unchanged at 2%, as expected by all 18 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll last week.

The central bank has also retained the overnight deposit and lending rates at 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively.

“The Monetary Board observed that the reimposition of quarantine measures to arrest the recent wave of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) infections could pose a risk to the ongoing economic recovery,” Mr. Diokno said at a briefing on Thursday afternoon.

“To this end, targeted fiscal and health interventions, especially the acceleration of the government’s vaccination program, will be crucial in safeguarding public health and preventing deeper negative effects on the Philippine economy.”

High-risk areas including Metro Manila and some provinces that are experiencing a surge in COVID-19 infections are under a two-week lockdown until Aug. 20.

Despite the strict lockdown, the number of daily COVID-19 cases continues to rise. On Thursday, the Health department reported 12,439 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of active cases at 87,663.

An additional 177 Delta variant cases were also reported on Thursday. Total Delta variant cases now stand at 627.

“The Monetary Board remains keen on sustaining monetary policy support for as long as necessary in order for the momentum of economic recovery to gain more traction as well as to help boost domestic demand and market confidence, especially as risk aversion continues to temper credit activity,” Mr. Diokno said.

He said the BSP is ready to adjust policy settings as needed, adding that the risks to inflation appeared balanced.

“Going forward, the BSP will remain vigilant against any emerging risks to the outlook for inflation and growth,” Mr. Diokno said.

The Philippines exited recession in the second quarter, as gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 11.8%. This brought first-half GDP growth to 3.7%, still below the 6-7% full-year government target.

However, recovery momentum was dented after second-quarter GDP declined by a seasonally adjusted 1.3% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, following a 0.7% growth in the first quarter.

Banks also continued to be risk-averse, with bank lending declining for a seventh straight month in June.

BEYOND TARGET
Meanwhile, the central bank upwardly revised the inflation outlook for the year to 4.1% from 4%, BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila, Jr. said.

The new estimate exceeds the central bank’s 2-4% target range.

For 2022 and 2023, the BSP expects inflation to average 3.1%, also slightly higher than its previous 3% estimate for both years.

“Factors that led to the revision include higher global crude and non-oil prices, weakening of the peso, as well as concerns about the speed of arrival of imported pork. This is also taking into account the latest inflation outturn, specifically in June and July that came after the previous policy meeting,” Mr. Dakila said.

The peso has been trading at the P50 per dollar level in recent weeks. It closed at P50.39-a-dollar on Thursday, 4.9% weaker than its P48.023 close on the last trading day of 2020.

Mr. Dakila said the weaker peso is consistent with the “broad dollar strength” against other currencies as investors fled to safe havens amid worries over the Delta variant. He said this risk-off sentiment was also caused by the perceived shift of the US Federal Reserve to a more hawkish tone.

At the same time, the consumer price index (CPI) in July rose by 4%, marking the first time that headline inflation was within the BSP’s 2-4% target since December 2020. July inflation eased from the 4.1% in June mainly due to slower increase in the transport index. However, inflation in the first seven months of the year still exceeded the target range at 4.4%.

Mr. Dakila said the expectation for a faster CPI increase is mainly caused by supply issues as “demand conditions are not really driving inflation.”

“When we look at the distribution of the CPI items, in terms of how fast the prices of these items are increasing, more than half or 53.2% of the total items are actually having inflation rates below 2%, below the lower bound of inflation target. So again, that’s an indication that demand conditions are at the moment muted,” he said.

The BSP’s higher inflation outlook for 2021 and the succeeding two years kills any chance of a surprise rate cut, Pantheon Macroeconomics Senior Economist Miguel Chanco said in a note.

“We maintain that a reacceleration in inflation in the remainder of this year is on the cards, as the country continues to import high amid rising global food inflation, and as the lagged impact of the recovery in global oil prices filters through to utility and transport costs,” he said, noting the peso’s weakness will also strengthen the case for the BSP to retain the policy rates at record lows.

Meanwhile, Alex Holmes, Asia economist at Capital Economics, expect more rate cuts ahead as it sees the central bank supporting recovery that is hindered by a slow-paced vaccination.

Data from the Johns Hopkins University showed only 10.74% or 11.614 million of the population have been fully vaccinated. The government aims to vaccinate 70 million adult Filipinos by yearend to achieve herd immunity that could be the key to safely reopen the economy.

“The virus is set to remain a major headwind to the economy for some time and the unemployment rate — which the central bank has indicated it is keeping a close eye on — is likely to shoot up once again,” Mr. Holmes said in a note, adding a rate cut may be on the table in the next policy review.

The Monetary Board has three more policy meetings this year. The next one is set on Sept. 23.

Philippines faces sluggish recovery as Delta threat rises

Church-mass-vaccination
PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS
Church-mass-vaccination
People wait to get their COVID-19 vaccines at a church along Kamuning Road, Quezon City, Aug. 9. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE growing number of Delta variant infections in the country, coupled with the hard lockdowns, will likely slow down the Philippine economy’s recovery for the rest of the year, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) said.

AMRO’s economist for the Philippines Zhiwen Jiao said the economy’s 11.8% growth in the second quarter signaled signs of recovery but the momentum may have slowed due to the resurgence in coronavirus cases and renewed lockdowns.

“Given that the Philippines is a service-oriented economy, with a large share of economic activities concentrated in Manila, the latest tight pandemic restrictions in the capital will inevitably slow the country’s economic recovery,” Mr. Jiao said in an e-mailed response on Thursday.

AMRO will consider these developments in reassessing the gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines, he said.

The regional macroeconomic surveillance organization slashed its 2021 growth projection for the Philippines to 6.4% in June from the previous 6.9% forecast in March.

Metro Manila and other parts of the country are again under the strictest form of lockdown until Aug. 20 to curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The Health department reported 12,439 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases at 87,663.

An additional 177 Delta variant cases were also reported on Thursday, of which 90 were in the National Capital Region. Total Delta variant cases now stand at 627.

“As for the second half of this year in particular, the biggest threat to growth is still COVID-19 infection rates. The country urgently needs faster vaccinations to reach herd immunity so that the economy can open up safely, and businesses can operate with a degree of normalcy.”

IHS Markit Asia Pacific Chief Economist Rajiv Biswas also warned that the tighter restrictions and a lack of adequate vaccine supplies will slow down the Philippines’ recovery momentum over the near term.

The government has administered 24.45 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Aug. 8, with 11.4 million fully vaccinated against COVID-19.  This is still far from the government’s target to vaccinate 70 million or the entire adult population by end of this year to achieve herd immunity.

Mr. Biswas said the economy will likely grow by around 5-6%, barely hitting the government’s GDP growth target of 6-7% for the year.

The Department of Finance (DoF) likewise acknowledged the impact of the Delta variant outbreak on the economy, especially on the labor market.

“The subsequent re-imposition of stricter quarantine measures in August will have consequences on the nascent green shoots. Such measures are nevertheless precautionary in nature to prevent the much greater evil of spikes in daily cases,” the DoF said.

The unemployment rate stood at 7.7% in June, with 359,000 jobs created.

For 2022, AMRO and IHS Markit both see a brighter outlook for the Philippines, on expectations that the pandemic will be contained.

“GDP growth should prove robust in 2022, even if growth is dampened by the lockdowns this year, because the outbreak will likely be better controlled next year. We also anticipate that the government will provide stronger policy support,” Mr. Jiao said.

Mr. Biswas said the latest Philippine manufacturing PMI survey indicated improving output expectations for the industry in the next 12 months.

“The gradual progress of the COVID-19 vaccination program has underpinned hopes of a return to normality over the next 12 months. Stronger GDP growth of around 7.7% year on year is expected in 2022, as the pandemic is gradually restrained by widening vaccine rollout in the Philippines, resulting in more normal economic conditions,” he added.

The government is targeting a 7-9% economic rebound next year. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Filinvest’s REIT makes market debut; Megaworld REIT gets go signal

BW FILE PHOTO
Filinvest REIT Corp. manages a portfolio of 17 office buildings, of which 16 are located in Northgate Cyberzone, Filinvest Corporate City in Muntinlupa. — COMPANY HANDOUT

By Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte, Reporter

SHARES in the real estate investment trust (REIT) sponsored by Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) rose less than a percent higher in its market debut on Thursday, amid the strict lockdown in the capital region and the threat of the Delta variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

At the same time, Megaworld Corp.’s REIT unit secured approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

Filinvest REIT Corp.’s (FILREIT) shares closed at P7.02 each on Thursday, 0.29% or two centavos higher than its P7 offer price, while the PSE index fell 1.65% (Related story). Its shares opened at P6.97, and reached an intraday low of P6.96.

“FILRT’s (the company’s ticker symbol) market debut started on a positive note, reaching as high as P7.14 and eventually traded sideways above the P7.02 area,” Timson Securities, Inc. trader Darren Blaine T. Pangan said in a Viber message. 

“The stock ended slightly higher despite the index inching lower amid the weak sentiment looming over the broader market,” he added.

FILREIT raised P12.6 billion from its initial public offering (IPO). It manages a portfolio of 17 office buildings with over 300,000 square meters. Sixteen of these buildings are located in Northgate Cyberzone, Filinvest Corporate City in Muntinlupa.

“It is a vote of confidence not only in our company and this new asset class but also in our country and in what has proven to be a most resilient industry in our economy — the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector,” FLI President Josephine Gotianun-Yap said in a statement.

The Gotianun-led company remains optimistic about the growing demand for office spaces in its buildings, despite the strict lockdowns. 

“Work from home is not really for everyone and based on the industry research and reports, there’s a lot of issues [on] working from home,” FILREIT President and Chief Executive Officer Maricel Brion-Lirio said during a media briefing. 

“Our outlook for the office sector as a whole is optimistic and positive,” she added.

During the listing ceremony on Thursday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III urged the Filinvest group to further expand its property developments, particularly outside of Metro Manila.

“REIT has proven to be the ideal tool for raising the billions required to power property development in the country. This will propel the growth of the property sector beyond the pandemic… Filinvest’s REIT listing underscores the confidence that the Philippine economy is on track to a solid recovery from the difficulties brought about by the pandemic,” Mr. Dominguez said.

Ms. Gotianun-Yap said the Filinvest group will continue to further expand its existing businesses.

“The Filinvest group has built a very strong foundation for solid growth. Many of our businesses we have not even optimized the capacity, so there’s still a lot of room for growth and that’s what we are working on in addition to going into synergistic businesses,” she said.

FILREIT is the third REIT firm listed on the local stock exchange, which will soon see two more make their market debut.

MREIT GETS GO SIGNAL
Meanwhile, the PSE on Thursday approved the listing of the shares of the REIT unit sponsored by Megaworld.

MREIT will be offering to the public 1,078,000,000 common shares owned by Megaworld for P22 each, with an overallotment option of up to 161,700,000 common shares. 

Its offer period is set from Sept. 14 until Sept. 20, with a tentative listing date scheduled for Sept. 30. It will have the stock symbol “MREIT.”

The company may raise up to P27.3 billion from the IPO, should the overallotment option be exercised. 

MREIT included in its initial portfolio 10 key office assets, which are located in Eastwood City in Quezon City, Mckinley Hill in Bonifacio Global City, and Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City. 

Robinsons Land, Inc.’s REIT firm earlier this week received the PSE’s go signal for its IPO. RL Commercial REIT, Inc.’s offer period is expected to run from Aug. 25 to Sept. 3. It aims to list its shares by Sept. 14 under the ticker symbol “RCR.”

These REIT listings all focus on the office spaces in their portfolio, despite muted demand with many companies shifting to work-from-home arrangements due to the continued lockdown restrictions and concerns over COVID-19.

“Lockdowns [caused by the] pandemic since last year could be a drag on office demand and this could be already priced in [or be] reflected in the valuation,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a text message.

Analysts said REIT offers would remain attractive considering their dividend yield.

‘For as long as there’s excess system liquidity keeping interest rates low, helped by the BSP’s (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) monetary accommodation, REITs’ yield will be attractively superior versus other asset classes,” First Metro Investment Corp. Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said in a separate Viber message.

A pickup in the pace of the country’s vaccination program may also boost investor sentiment.

“Increased vaccination would be a catalyst in the coming months especially if population protection and eventually herd immunity is reached in the coming months as this could fundamentally help sustain the economic recovery prospects,” Mr. Ricafort said.

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